46 Chapter 2 Work with Files
Opening, Moving Around in, and Closing Files
If a program isn’t already running, you can start the program and simultaneously open
an existing file by double-clicking the file in Windows Explorer. While a program is run-
ning, you can open an existing document from the Backstage view. If you have recently
worked on the document you want to open, you can display the Recent page and simply
click the document you want in the list. If the document is not available on the Recent
page, clicking Open in the left pane displays the Open dialog box.The Open dialog box, displaying the contents of a recently used folder.By default, the Open dialog box displays your Documents library, with a combined view
of your My Documents folder and the Public Documents folder. If you display the dialog
box again in the same Word session, it displays the contents of the folder from which
you last opened a file. To display the contents of a different folder, you can use the stan-
dard Windows techniques described in “Creating and Saving Files” earlier in this chapter.
After you locate the document you want to work with, you can open it by clicking its file
name and then clicking Open in the lower-right corner of the dialog box, or by simply
double-clicking the file name.
Tip Clicking a file name and then clicking the Open arrow (not the button) displays a list of
alternative ways in which you can open the file. To look through the file without making any
inadvertent changes, you can open it as read-only, or you can open a separate copy of the file.
After a computer crash or similar incident, you can open the file and attempt to repair any
damage. You can also display the file in other versions and formats.